3rd North Midland Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
|allegiance= |branch= Territorial Force |type= |role=Field Artillery Heavy Anti-Aircraft Artillery Light Anti-Aircraft Artillery |size= |current_commander= |garrison=Wolverhampton |battles=Western Front }} The 3rd North Midland Brigade, Royal Field Artillery was a volunteer unit of the British Territorial Force formed in 1908. It fought during the First and Second World Wars. After the Second World War it was reformed as part of the Territorial Army. The unit exists today as part of the Army Reserve as 210 (Staffordshire) Battery, 103 Regiment Royal Artillery. Origin When the Territorial Force was created from the Volunteer Force in 1908 by the Haldane Reforms, the 3rd North Midland Brigade was created as a new unit with headquarters in Wolverhampton.Osborne, Mike, 2006. Always Ready: The Drill Halls of Britain's Volunteer Forces, Partizan Press, Essex, p1261 First World War On the outbreak of the First World War the unit was mobilised for war. The formation of reserve or 2nd Line TF units was authorised by the War Office on 31 August 1914. They began to form in September 1914 as a duplicate of the 1st: the units took a '2/' prefix to distinguish them from the 1st Line unit. The unit therefore became the 1/3rd and 2/3rd North Midland Brigade RFA (TF).name = Litchfield>Litchfield, p. 211. In 1915 the 1/3rd deployed to France. In 1916, the unit was renumbered as 232nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (TF) with the 2nd line unit numbered 297th Brigade Royal Field Artillery (TF). This unit was subsequently broken up and distributed to other units.name = Litchfield>Litchfield, p. 212. On the Armistice in 1918 the unit was part of the 3rd Army.Farndale, Appendix M, p. 382. In 1919 it was placed in suspended animation. Interwar The brigade was reformed in 1920 as 3rd North Midland Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (TF).Litchfield, p. 211. In 1921 it was redesignated as 62nd (North Midland) Brigade Royal Field Artillery (TA). With the reorganisation of the Territorial Army in the 1930s to counter air threats the unit was reorganised to form 73rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade RA (TA). Second World War In 1940 the unit was redesignated 73rd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA (TA). The unit deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and subsequently served in the UK, Middle East and Italy.Litchfield, p. 211. Postwar In 1947 the regiment was reconstituted as 473rd (Mobile) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA (North Midland) TA, with headquarters at West Bromwich.Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, p211 In 1955 they were amalgamated with 643rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA (6th Bn Staffordshire Regt) (TA) to form 444th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA (TA) with headquarters moving to Wolverhampton. In 1961 further amalgamations of other Territorial Army batteries saw the regiment designated 444th (Staffordshire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA (TA). 1967 reorganisation and present day On the reorganisation of the Territorial Army in 1967 the unit was reduced to battery strength and designated 210 (Staffordshire) Light Air Defence Battery RA, within the newly created 104th Light Air Defence Regiment RA (V). In 2013 the Army 2020 report transferred the battery to 103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment Royal Artillery and re-roled the battery with the L119 Light Gun. Notes References * Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1: The Regular British Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1934/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56), London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: The 2nd-Line12 Advance to Victory, London: HM Stationery Office, 1947/Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, 1993, . * Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, . Category:Military units and formations established in 1908 Category:Military units and formations in Staffordshire